Mikhaylyonok O.M. Problems and prospects of the network approach in the study of socio-political relations. In: Russia and the political order in a changing world: values, institutions, prospects: Materials of the IX All-Russian Congress of Political Scientists, Moscow, December 16-18, 2021 ...

Abstract

The article notes that the prospects for the study of complex interactions and unpredictable models of the development of modern socio-political relations are associated with a significant analytical potential of network theory.  To date, network theory, which is a complex, generalized system of views on social life and human experience, is one of the most influential trends in modern sociological science. Currently, attempts are being made to use network theory (the concept of a network) as a method of theoretical description of the dynamics of political relations. Two research directions are analyzed: the so-called social network theory of M. Castells and the actor-network research design of B. Latour. In this regard, it seems relevant to clarify the question of how promising it is to consider political relations not only as a subject of system-structural analysis, but also as network phenomena, and to what extent the network approach can be used to analyze the dynamics of political relations. The desire to carry out a certain synthesis of the categories social network and social system aims to inform social philosophy, sociology and political science of new impulses in the study and interpretation of a complex and changing world, to reach a new level of theoretical construction corresponding to the formation of a dynamic network society.